The National Board of Health will discourage students from drinking by banning alcohol at school parties, and they have sent a letter to principals at high schools in Denmark.
Stricter rules are proposed
In 2020, it was revealed by the WHO that Danish teenagers consume the most alcohol in the whole of Europe in their age group, and the National Board of Health is trying to change this status by encouraging schools to help change the drinking culture among young people in Denmark.
It recommends that study trips should be 100 percent alcohol-free and that schools should only sell or provide drinks at parties with an alcohol content of less than 5 percent.
According to the Danish Health Authority, 1,649 people under the age of 20 are hospitalized each year due to acute alcohol poisoning, and the teenage drinking culture leads to a higher risk of violence, accidents and unwanted sex.
There is also a lot of peer pressure to drink in gymnasiums, as drinking is a part of most social events, and it is not helped by the school being the main supplier of alcohol at these events.
Taking the first step
The first school to implement a ban on alcohol at school events is Nørresundby Gymnasium.
It is common for its students to purchase alcohol on school grounds during school parties. However, Søren Hindsholm, principal at Nørresundby Gymnasium, has now put an end to that.
“Changing a culture takes time, but we are now starting to do so slowly. We think that at the first party in the first years they should get to know each other without being influenced by alcohol,” he says to DR.
Students find the ban unrealistic
Although Nørresundby Gymnasium does its best to make the first party of the year a fun experience by serving a variety of non-alcoholic drinks, the students think the ban is unrealistic in the long term.
By banning alcohol, it will only stop young people from drinking in a safe environment and may cause more students to drink irresponsibly without the presence of adults.
Furthermore, not all schools are following the recommendation, as several have reported that it was issued too late, after plans had already been set in stone.
Nevertheless, these institutions remain open to the idea of reducing the amount of alcohol available in the future.
Source: The Nordic Page